01.11.06
“Bullshit inspections. The mayor’s office has made a call to the Office of Inspections. You can expect them any day now.”
“Good Lord,” said Chuck. He had the sudden miserable feeling that he was in the middle of some terrible sitcom, replete with bumbling bad guys, Machiavellian politicians, and the requisite clipboard carrying city official. It was becoming too much.
“The whole place is up to code, I checked out everything before the convention came to town. Besides, my dad had everything almost perfect. I don’t have to worry about that at all. I have dotted my i’s, and crossed my t’s. Nothing at all to worry about there.”
“All of them?” asked Will. He was a lawyer, he knew how complex public regulations and codes could be. They were no laughing matter.
“Yeah, all of them. Robert double -checked everything with me. It’s all good, right Robert?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, that is all my mole was able to get, so far. He will keep me informed if he hears anything else.”
“Will, how the hell did you get a mole? I have lived in St. Catharines almost my whole life, and I don’t have a mole. How did you get one?”
The big lawyer stood up straight, lengthening his back, and holding his head up high. “Never underestimate the sway of the Black Knight,” was all he would say. “I still have my resources. Now, where do you go for lunch around here?” It was approaching noon. Will Chuck and Robert all piled into Will’s giant conveyance, and drove into the city for lunch, choosing the fantastic sandwich place Robert had previously recommended. The bright yellow walls of the restaurant were in sharp contrast to the cold, grey day, a day that had become overcast and dull, with the first few flakes of winter drifting down to dust cars and window panes, or to dance merrily through people’s feet, blown along like a cool, frosty Tango partner. Chuck found himself laughing more during this lunch than he could remember laughing in a long time. The men decided to spend some time downtown shopping. Will wanted to explore more of the “dark underbelly” of the city, and Robert was more than happy to play tour guide, showing off the city he had lived in for so many years.
“What brought you into the city, Robert?” asked Will, suddenly curious. St. Catharines had never been a huge growth city; most people moved out, not in.
“I used to work at the university, actually,” he said vaguely.
“Really? What did you do?”
“Oh, this and that, nothing important, certainly.” Chuck got the feeling that the topic of discussion was not one that Robert wished to discuss. He knew very little about Robert’s past. Then again, he hadn’t known him all that long, really.
“Hey, do you want to check out this CD store?” he asked, trying to draw attention away from Robert.
They entered a dark, dingy store, flickering florescent lights doing very little to combat the dimness that seemed to emanate from the black painted walls. The air was heavy with thick incense, and droney electronic music was playing mercifully quietly from several speakers, hung randomly along the walls and ceiling. A skinny, surly-looking, much tattooed clerk stood behind the counter, barely registering the presence of the bunch of squares that had just entered. Chuck looked around trepiditiously, realizing he was not in his element. There was no Creed to be found here. Will poured eagerly through the stacks of used CD’s, and Robert found a pile of jazz L.P.’s that were collecting dust. Chuck wandered aimlessly through the cramped store, looking at CD after CD of bands he had never heard of. He flipped the cases idly.
“Funny, you don’t look like a Cramps fan.” Chuck looked up to see a smiling face peeking out at him from behind green tresses.
“Hey! Hi, Animal. How are you doing?”
“I’m good, man, good. What’s up?”
“Well, I’m just hanging out with my lawyer and my father’s best friend after hanging out with the mayor and being threatened.” Animal’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise. “Sorry, I guess that was an overshare,” Chuck said.
“No, man, no. It’s cool. I’m just surprised you would be hanging out with the mayor. That guy’s an asshole.” Chuck smiled wanly. He knew there was a reason he liked Animal, strange as he was. The kid had a good grasp on things.
“Trust me, it wasn’t really my idea. That guy is an asshole.” Animal started flipping through the CD’s beside Chuck, glancing briefly at each cover before flicking it forward sharply, with a well practiced snap of the index finger. “So, did the mayor threaten you, or someone else?”
“Someone else, but they are in cahoots with the mayor.”
“Interesting times, man. Sounds like interesting times.”
“Yeah, pretty much.” The music of the store, thick, many layered distorted guitar and drum machine, was suddenly put into sonic competition with a tinny, jangly version of Minuet in G. It was terrible in its contrast. Will fumbled with his coat pocket and pulled out a small, sleek cell phone.
“Is that the lawyer?” Animal asked, nodding his head at Will.
“Yeah, he’s my lawyer, Will. That’s Robert. He lives in the trailer park, too.”
“You live in that trailer park, just west of here?”
“Yeah, actually, I own it.”
“Nice, that’s a nice place. I went to a huge garage sale there in the spring. It was wicked with old electronics.” In the background Will was speaking excitedly into his cell phone. Chuck thought he heard the phrase “Promised Ones” in the conversation. More good news.
“What do you do with all those speakers, anyhow?” Animal reached out and pulled a speaker off of the wall. He passed it to Chuck. It was a plain looking speaker, no case, just the cone. Chuck flipped it over to look at the back. It was covered with little wires, miniature electronics, and a tiny blinking led.
“The LED is just for show, really, but the rest of it is controlled from the computer back there,” he pointed to the computer behind the counter. “You can put these anywhere you want, no wires, no muss, no fuss.”
“Did you make these?”
“Yeah, I tinker around with them in my spare time, what little I have.”
“This is really cool,” Chuck thought back to the speaker setup he saw in the lawyers’ office. That was pretty cool, but these were amazing.
“The fun thing is you can put them anywhere. I scared the shit out of my room-mates by hiding them around the house, then blasting a recording of a scream through them. It was pretty funny.”
“You don’t get along with your room-mates?”
Animal shook his head vigorously. “No, they are great, but they drank my beer. They had to pay.”
“That seems fair.” Will finished his phone call and hurried over to Chuck and Animal. Chuck introduced them quickly.
“That was a call from my mole,” said Will.
“This guy has a mole?” Animal asked Chuck.
“Yeah, he has all the resources.”
“Man, how do I get me a mole? I mean, I’d love a mole,” said Animal, shaking his head in wonder.
“Me too,” shouted an eavesdropping Robert, still flipping through the stack of records.
“Maybe if you are good boys I’ll share him with you,” shouted Will, but with good humour. “Anyhow, he just called to let me know the Promised Ones are meeting tonight, he isn’t sure why, but he assumes it has to do with you.”
“Don’t those guys ever meet to do charity work?” asked Robert.
“Who are the Promised Ones?” asked Animal.
“Those are the guys who are in cahoots with the mayor to take my land,” replied Chuck.
“Cahoots, huh? Man, I never get to say ‘cahoots’ with my friends.”
“Maybe you are not hanging out with the right people,” said Robert, walking up clutching some jazz records.
“We get to say stuff like cahoots, and nefarious all the time. Tell me, Will, did the mole say where the meeting would take place?”
“Yeah, he told me the address,” replied Will.
“Well, perhaps we should pay them a little visit. Go into the nest of vipers, as it were.”
“Does that really seem like a good idea? We know they are not afraid to use force with us,” replied Chuck, thinking back to the explosion.
“Well, why don’t I just invite some friends,” said Robert.
“Now this I have to see,” said Animal. He pointed to the handful of records Robert was holding. “You want those?” he asked. Robert nodded. Animal took the pile from him. “I’ve got a ton of credit here for setting up the sound system. I’ll get these for you.” He turned and went to the counter.
“So,” said Robert. “An old man, a marketer, a wrestler turned lawyer, and a punk student. Watch out Promised Ones!”
